and passengers boarding amtrak can now pack more than just clothes. some say it's threatening public safety. good morning, i'm marla tellez. i'll bring you a live report on the controversial rules taking effect today for amtrak. shocking video. a high school basketball player gets ejected. what happens next has everyone talking. and cleaning up after a tornado knocks out power and destroys buildings. wicked weather continues to rock most of the country. and take a look at this little guy. he just couldn't wait for mom and dad to get to the hospital. we have their amazing story. and the rain is coming to an end for now. we're going to tell you when it could come back today, wednesday, december 15th, on "today in the bay." from nbc bay area, reporting what matters to you, this is "today in the bay." good wednesday morning to you. 6:00 right now. i'm laura garcia-cannon. >> and i'm brent cannon. we want to start you off with rob. he has a look at weather and

traffic today. they kind of go hand in hand. >> yeah, they certainly do. you know, we've been seeing some pretty heavy rain at times. not so much this morning, just patchy fog that could slow you down. dh chilly as well. towards lunchtime highs only in the mid-50s. there you see the radar view, things have tried out. you can see the showers off to the east and clouds to the south. more rain, though, will come in off and on as we go through the next few days. coming up in a moment, checking traffic quickly, an accident westbound 580. that has been cleared to the side of the road. notice the sunol grade. we're seeing slowing as you get out of pleasanton likely due to dense fog in the area. we'll continue to watch that on your southbound 680 commute through the morning. new this morning, a business breakfast is about to start. silicon valley business leaders are joining ceos from all across the country at the white house. they will meet with president obama coming up in about a half

an hour. the white house hopes that this working meeting is a way to continue to work together, grow the economy, create jobs in the private sector and invest in american innovation and competitiveness. now, the bay area is well represented. leaders of cisco, intel and google are among those 20 ceos at this morning's meeting. the house is expected to vote to overturn don't ask, don't tell today. gay rights activists say this is their last best shot at overturning the policy. the vote is intended to put pressure on the senate to take up the issue before the holidays. look for updates throughout the day on nbcbayarea.com. students in as many as seven east bay schools could have to find a new place to study next year because their current schools are now on the chopping block. christie smith is live in concord with the recommendations to close schools. >> reporter: good morning to you, brent. you know, this is an emotional issue for families who have really supported these schools all along. they don't want to have to move their kids.

this is one of the schools that's being considered here behind me. but the district is facing some real tough financial times, even struggling to stay afloat. the mt. diablo district recently learned it would have to pay $2.5 million to help pay for things like mentally disabled student services as the governor just vetoed state funding for it. but it is mandatory. on top of that, there is declining enrollment in the district. closing schools is expected to save at least $1.5 million a year for the district. a committee looked at a number of factors, like the condition of the school, how much it costs to operate and location. some parents are upset that academic performance may not even be enough to save a school. there are several scenarios that they're looking at, but the top recommendations are glenbrook middle, silverwood elementary and wren avenue elementary in

concord. a final decision is expected to be made sometime in late january. reporting live in concord, christie smith, "today in the bay." >> thanks a lot. now school money troubles do stretch all across the state and governor-elect jerry brown says brace for more cuts. he's telling schools to expect deep cuts to fill the state's budget hole, which is currently more than $25 billion. he told a group of educators to, quote, fasten your seat belts, it's going to be a rough ride. brown expects to roll out his budget plan january 10th. the plan to build a ballpark near the oakland estuary cleared its first financial hurdle. a city council committee voted to move forward on funding for an environmental impact review. the vote was pushed up so the full city council can decide tuesday whether to pay for the report. a councilmember has reservations. he wants a guarantee from as co-owner or the major league baseball commission that they will consider keeping the team

in oakland. he says bringing the raiders to oakland from l.a. ended up costing millions because attendance never met expectations. drivers will see an unusual sight at the bay bridge over the next few days. millions of pounds of steel is going to be hoisted onto the new span. the segments will bring the tower nearly three-fourths of the way to its final height, which is about 525 feet. the segments will be placed during an around-the-clock operation which begins tomorrow. transportation leaders are telling drivers to keep their eyes on the road. don't get distracted. there could be some shifts coming up. no "s" curve but be heads up. the new bridge is expected to be open in late 2013. please don't. please. [ gunshots ] frightening gunfire is all caught on tape. scott joins us with more. >> reporter: scary moments indeed. the video you just showed is

disturbing. though nobody in the video gets hurt. a man, whose wife was fired by the school board in florida's panama city, painted the figure v from the movie v for vendetta at a school board meeting. then he fired at least two shots. nobody hit in this, but a security guard later exchanged fire with the man, 56-year-old clay duke, wounding him. he then shot himself and died. now, several of those at the meeting will be on the "today" show about an hour from now. >> that guy had a mission. he had already told us he was going to die. he told us he was going to kill himself basically. he was going to try to do the same to us. and it's just -- i feel so sorry for his family and what they're going through right now. it's just a terrible tragedy. >> now, again, no one on the school board was hit. the man had a criminal record. just scary moments, brent, that could have been much, much more tragic. >> yeah, that was some really

frightening stuff there at that school board meeting. we'll hear more about what went on coming up later on "today." an 18-year-old charged with plotting a bomb attack at a redwood city high school says he is not guilty by reason of insanity. police say that he came to hillsdale high school with ten homemade bombs, a sword, a chain saw and a plan to kill as many people as possible in august of 2009. a teacher tackled him before anybody was hurt. that trial is expected to start january 31st. he is in custody without any bail. it's 6:07 right now. guns on a train. starting today you'll be able to take your gun with you on amtrak. marla tellez is live at the train station in oakland with a controversial change in a long-standing policy. good morning, marla. >> reporter: good morning to you, laura. well, the ban has been in effect for almost ten years, since 9/11 in fact. almost 30 million passengers

rode amtrak last year and checking a weapon was not an option then. as of today, it is. but there are some conditions that passengers must meet. one of those conditions, a passenger must give amtrak at least 24 hours' advance notice. the new rules state firearms, including handguns, starter pistols, rifles or shotguns must be unloaded and stored in a locked container within the baggage car, so it cannot actually be with the passenger themselves. keep in mind not all trains have baggage cars. a passenger can also checkup to 11 pounds of ammunition. now, this morning we found people on both sides of the issue. >> this wouldn't stop you from riding a train? >> no, not at all. >> as a matter of fact, the train is more lenient than the plane, right? no, don't mess with the train. >> reporter: supporters of the ban say it brings train travel up to speed with air travel rules that allow passengers to

also check weapons. gun control advocates say it only makes trains less secure and less safe. the difference between air and train travel is that amtrak does not screen all passengers before they board. reporting live in oakland, marla tellez, "today in the bay." right now people are picking up after a rare tornado in northwest oregon. look at this damage here. power crews are trying to fix electrical lines all across the small town of armsville. the f-2 tornado and rain and hail damaged about 50 houses and did destroy ten of them. kind of unusual for that area of the country for this time of year in particular. >> nothing like that here. you may encounter some fog on your way to work and rain is in the works in a couple of days, right? >> yeah. too much of it in some spots, especially through the weekend. this morning it's a little chilly so you certainly need the jacket, but you probably don't need the umbrella. 41 in fairfield, 50 in san francisco. patchy fog reported out by

concord into the delta and around our north bay valleys this morning seeing some reduced visibilities due to fog. there's the radar last hour, so things are finally drying out. the showers now heading down the central coast into l.a. and san diego. they'll be seeing scattered showers today. heading down the grapevine, you will find that following you into southern california. here we go, the parade of weather systems going along for the ride on the subtropical jetstream and that's going to mean bad things for the weekend in terms of just how much rain falls around the bay area. between today and tomorrow things should be dry. patchy morning fog, cool temperatures. starting friday we'll get the first in a series of systems coming in but i really think it's going to be saturday when you notice the winds picking up and the rain coming down by the inches, we think, by the time we get out of the weekend. bay area temperatures today, mid to upper 50s around the santa clara valley, across the north bay. we'll see highs 55 in petaluma, 46 for lakeport. if you're heading to truckee, snow and chain controls still up in the see air athis morning. look at your seven-day forecast for the weekend. gusty and wet, heavy rain at times off and on all the way

through the middle part of next week but dry for the next two days. now let's show you the bay bridge toll plaza. slowing approaching the toll plaza but the metering lights, just checked, still off for now. let's take you a little bit further to the west. golden gate bridge fog-free for now. you can see the traffic volume starting to increase heading southbound across the golden gate bridge this morning. as we take a look at the maps around the bay area, what you'll find around the sunol grade this morning, we do have patchy fog. as we get out of pleasanton, that's the reason for the slowing you're seeing there. otherwise across the east bay, travel times along highway 4, sat knoll grade and also down looking good. it turns out sleeping beauty had it right. we'll show you the new study that proves getting good sleep isn't just good for your health. plus, you're not the only one worried about your kids and texting too much. the government is now getting involved. and a basketball brawl you have to see to believe. the story right after the break.

here's a live look outside right now. san jose, no rain coming down yet. rob says there's some on the way. we'll check in with him coming up in a few. reporting what matters to you, you're watching "today in the bay" with laura garcia-cannon, brent cannon, business and technology with scott mcgrew, and traffic with mike inouye. hey, guys !

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good wednesday morning to you. thanks so much for starting your day with us. here's a live look outside at the bay bridge. you know, it is foggy in some parts of the bay area. be careful as you head out the door. we'll take a look at the full forecast coming up. 6:14 right now. take a look at this. a hard foul and some pushing and shoving in a boys basketball game in florida. a player gets ejected, but watch

his reaction. he gets angry and shoves the referee. then he actually comes after him and wrestles him to the ground. the player is eventually restrained and taken off the court. the game ended in a forfeit because the refs refused to officiate the rest of the game. it's time to get moving. living an active lifestyle as a young adult has benefits that last through middle age, especially for women. researchers at northwestern university found people who were highly active for at least two and a half hours a week were significantly less likely to gain weight by middle age. women saw the biggest benefit. those who reported high activity levels gained 13 pounds less than those who were sedentary. active men gained 6 pounds less. swiss researchers have a few tips on what to drink with your holiday meal. they say having an alcoholic drink does slow down the digestive process. however, it does not affect

things like heartburn or bloating. people in a study who ate a rich meal of cheese fondue and a glass of wine digested their meal a lot more slowly but did not have the heartburn, the belching and the bloating. there's now scientific proof that beauty sleep is not a myth. check this out. researchers in sweden photographed 23 people on two different days, once after they got a full night's sleep and once after being sleep deprived. all pictures were taken in identical lighting and participants wore no makeup and underwent similar grooming before each photo. after looking at all of the photos, observers said the faces of sleep-deprived people were less attractive, less healthy and more tired than the rested group. >> what shocked you the most, the fact they didn't get any sleep or didn't wear makeup? >> if you compared me from pre-kids, probably a different sight.

but happy. santa cruz has a new mayor this morning. he hopes to bring in about 100 new businesses into the city and work more closely with after school and substance abuse programs in order to reduce crime. now to a couple of follow-ups to a story we first told you about earlier this week. starting in 2012 there will be no more plastic bags in san jose and you'll have to pay for the paper ones. retailers will ditch the plastic bags and start charging for paper ones. they'll be 10 cents to start and then 25 cents. proponents of the measure say other cities can use this ban as an example to set their own bans. san francisco supervisors are distancing themselves from a controversial plan to charge a congestion toll to get into the city. supervisors voted yesterday not to continue with the plan to charge drivers $3 to come into the city during peak commute

hours and another $3 to leave. san mateo county leaders had threatened to fight back by charging a border toll of their own. some people are asking why san francisco should get all the money from the project, considering that every border has two sides. supervisors will look into a congestion toll for parts of downtown instead. police are on the hunt for a tiny tot jewelry thief and his mom. security video shows a woman and a little boy entering a shop that specializes in silver products. the woman appeared to be his mother. the boy sat close to a display, the mother distracted the saleswoman long enough for the boy to slip some jewels into his hand. the mother then told the saleswoman her car was parked illegally and they quickly left the store. the saleswoman didn't know what happened until the store owner saw the theft on a security camera video. cops in vegas are hunting for a bigger bandit. this one got away with about $1.5 million worth of casino

chips from the posh bellagio resort. the thief got away on a motorcycle and may be the same person who robbed the suncoast hotel and casino last thursday. both incidents involved a man wearing a motorcycle helmet displaying a gun, demanding casino chips and speeding away on a black sports motorcycle. the newest resort in las vegas does open today. the $3.9 billion casino. this could be the last opening like this we could see for a while. pricewaterhouse coopers says gaming income will not recover from the economic downturn until about 2014. a new survey shows teens now average one text every ten minutes they're awake. daily text messaging among teens is up 38% in 2008 to 54% in 2009. one in three sends more than 100 texts a day. that's one reason the federal communications commission is holding a forum on navigating

the new high-tech reality and its many pitfalls, including cyberbullying and texting. nearly two-thirds of parents report they look at the contents of their child's cell phone. about half limit the time of day they use their phone. a new survey says about 17% of shoppers hadn't even started their shopping as of late last week. that's actually down a little bit from the same time last year. the national retail federation study says 10% of shoppers have crossed everything off their neatly organized list. there are about ten more shopping days until christmas and i know some people who kind of had stuff done back in september, october? >> my sister was crazy, had it done. what you're not doing in a store, paying more. >> inflation has been a political football, a big concern among economists, but the latest data we're seeing shows very little increase in prices. the numbers that came out just a

few minutes ago show prices rose 0.1 of 1%. now, that's core inflation. when you take out food and energy prices which tend to bounce around, it doesn't change. you take out energy, or add in energy, it doesn't make any difference. well, the dow hit a two-year high on tuesday, which sounds great till a reporter pointed out that just means the markets were where they were two years ago. mixed start expected today. we're waiting on that tax decision in the senate that could save american families thousands of dollars. two ucsf professors say bad guys can fool those back scatter x-ray scanners at the airport. they write in the "journal of transportation security" that so-called low z materials, that is stuff that doesn't stick out too far, is hard to see. so if you created some sort of tapered pancake and placed it on your abdomen, for instance, it would be hard to detect. this is not the first time that

uc san francisco has kind of waded into this controversy. it was also a professor there that started talking about the back scatter x-rays maybe not being as safe as the obama administration says they are. now, you've got different professors saying they may not be as effective either. >> something to look at. >> thanks a lot. >> thank you very much. some people think the soldier accused of leaking sensitive military data to wikileaks is a traitor. others think bradley manning is a hero. berkeley city council members heard from both supporters and critics of the 23-year-old army private last night. now, last month the city's peace and justice commission voted to urge the city council to approve a resolution declaring manning a hero and thanking him for revealing the truth. councilmembers ended up voting to table that resolution indefinitely after a round of contentious public debate. manning is behind bars at a marine corps base in virginia. he faces up to 54 years in prison if convicted of charges of misusing and illegally downloading documents.

we wanted to know what you thought of this story so we posed a question on facebook. carol emerson said the man was wanted by law enforcement, why would we call him a hero. as a teacher, i think not. another wrote what a joke, hero in hiding. him being a hero put tons of troops' lives at risk. you can of course join in on the conversation by being a fan of our facebook page. just like us at nbc bay area morning news. a snowstorm is pounding the midwest and forcing a couple of michigan parents creative when they try to deliver their little bundle. we'll have their story coming up. taking a look outside at the bay bridge toll plaza. look, the backup has be fun and more rain is on its way. 'll check in with rob. [ female announcer ] dry, cracked hands?

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welcome back. 6:25. you know, we've had some really rough weather out towards the midwest and the great lakes, but here's a special story this morning. a michigan mother didn't let a

snowstorm keep her from delivering her healthy baby boy. we've got bradley lewis porter born in the passenger side seat of her parents' mercury mon teague owe. you can see the parents were on the way to the hospital in traverse city but the weather slowed them down so the father pulled over the car, helped his wife deliver the baby, a healthy baby, 8 pounds, 10 ounces. everyone doing fine this morning. the kid is doing pretty good. born with some pretty chilly temperatures over michigan. now, that's a live picture of time and temperature in concord this morning. a little patchy fog, 45 degrees. let's show you the radar view and i can show you things have tried out. the showers have moved on heading into central and southern california today, so if you're heading into the southland today, you will find some scattered showers there. for the bay area, not a bad day today. partly cloudy skies, mid-50s across the north bay. enjoy this brief break. it's going to last until tomorrow afternoon. friday the rain spills back in with heavy rain at times heading toward the weekend. a quick check now of your morning commute. the reason for the slowing at

the bay bridge toll plaza, there's a lot of it. back to our typical wednesday morning commute. back to you. >> thank you very much. it's 6:26 right now. when you hit the road today, you're going to want to be extra careful. we'll explain why this is such a dangerous day. and a live look outside this morning. one of the places where it's not raining yet. but rob is telling us to expect ke.csoing up ou'l yteepos pd.l [ male announcer ] how do you say...

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new this morning, riding amtrak may not be as safe as of today, and it's all because of what passengers can now check. good morning, i'm marla tellez. my live report is coming up. >> reporter: good morning, i'm christie smith. more than a half dozen schools in one east bay school district are on the chopping block. no surprise. it comes down to a lack of money. we'll tell you which ones are

being considered coming up. and when is the best time to have a baby? see what couples are saying about why they're waiting and the new group that's changing things up. plus we're watching what might impact your wallet this morning. we have a live look as wall street is now open for business. trading under way. and we'll show you when the rain will come back. it's wednesday, december 15th, "today in the bay." from nbc bay area, reporting what matters to you, this is "today in the bay." good morning to you. 6:30 right now. i'm laura garcia-cannon. >> and i'm brent cannon. we want to get started with rob. he's pulling a little double duty this morning. he has weather and traffic together. although in some instances, they go hand in hand. >> out towards the delta and the north bay we're seeing a little patchy fog, but the rain has for the most part moved on. you'll notice our temperatures a little chilly. 30s and 40s outside. as we pass lunchtime, we should

see mid-50s, cooling down towards the evening. but there you see the rain heading off to the south for now. more rain and heavy rain approaching closer to the weekend. we'll talk more about that in a few minutes. around the east bay you're seeing some slowing approaching the caldecott tunnel heading westbound and out towards highway 4. out towards the carquinez bridge we're seeing still times in the green, so overall pretty good around the east bay. metering lights now on approaching the bay bridge toll plaza. brent. >> thanks, rob. san rafael police are hoping that a hefty reward will spark a break in an unsolved murder case. the 33-year-old woman was found dead two years ago tomorrow in a san rafael parking lot. investigators say she had been raped and then was asphyxiated. despite interviewing dozens of people, police do not have any leads or a suspect so they hope to make an announcement today, a $50,000 reward is being offered in the case and they hope that the money which comes from the

governor's reward program will be enough for somebody who might have some information to step forward. the preliminary hearing for the seven people accused of raping a high school student resumes today. it was postponed on monday because the defense attorney had a personal emergency. just two more witnesses are left to take the stand. nine men stand accused of raping a girl outside of her homecoming dance at richmond high school. sacramento county deputies have some suspects in a shooting that killed a single mother and injured five others. they say two of the injured people could be connected to the shooting. it happened at a strip mall in south sacramento yesterday afternoon. the shooting started inside a barbershop and moved into a marking lot. the mother was caught in the crossfire while she loaded her toddler into a car seat. the toddler was not injured. before you get behind the wheel today there is a little known fact you might want to consider. more californians get into car crashes on december 15th, which is today, than any other day of the year. allstate insurance says over the last four years the rate of

accidents jumped 23% on december 15th. the cause could be a combination of weather, shopping trips and more travel. the company says that the three most important rules drivers should follow and probably apply to any day of the year, eliminate distractions, drive according to the conditions and never drink and drive. 6:33 right now. this morning changes in the works for thousands of east bay students. the mt. diablo school district is a step closer to boarding up a number of schools. christie smith is live in concord this morning with which campuses are at risk. >> reporter: good morning to you, laura. worst case scenario, we're talking about as many as seven schools shutting down for this school district. the financial problems just keep mounting. on top of this, they have learned that they'll now have to cover services for certain disabled students that were once covered by the state, and that costs about $2.5 million. closing the schools could save about $1.5 million a year for

the mt. diablo school district. a committee has been looking into this for months, considering things like the condition of the school, how many students it can hold and the location. now, many parents are upset that strong academic performance may not be enough to save a school. there are a number of scenarios that they're looking at. but the top recommendation for closures include glenbrook middle school, silverwood elementary and wren avenue elementary school in concord. final recommendations are expected at the end of january and that's when we should have an answer and a vote. reporting live in concord, christie smith, "today in the bay." >> thank you very much. meantime, president obama is set to meet with several high-powered people this morning, a nice business breakfast going on. it does include a few folks from the bay area. scott mcgrew is here with more thoon. >> reporter: good morning. we've talked about how bay area companies have billions in the bank so the president wants ceos

from silicon valley to spend some of that money on hiring people. he's talking to the heads of google and cisco and a number of other companies, from pepsi to general electric. now, in exchange, those ceos would like to see some regulations relaxed. now, the meeting is just under way in washington as we speak and we've been listening to the president as he has been addressing the ceos, including those from silicon valley. if he says something newsworthy to our area, we will bring it right to you. >> thanks a lot, scott. the time now 6:35. the clock is also ticking on a big decision that might impact how much money your family can make next year. >> it's all connected because the biological clock is ticking faster and faster. we'll answer why more 20-somethings are having children. plus facebook's founder is the person of the year and one of his interns took on a worldwide project. we'll tell you all about that coming up.

and i'm rob mayeda tracking some changes in your forecast today. dry but some heavy rain on the way as we approach the weekend. details of your forecast coming up next "today in the bay." reporting what matters to you, you're watching "today in the bay" with laura garcia-cannon, brent cannon, business and technology with scott mcgrew, and traffic with mike inouye. save $523! 16 minutes could save you 16%! come on...

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at 6:38 here's a look at your mammoth ski forecast. we still have snow showers this morning so take chains with you along interstate 80 or highway 50. to the south, snow still flying around mammoth mountain. most of the moisture dipping into central and southern california. heading into the afternoon, while the bay area gets a bit of a break for now. we'll see highs in the 50s bay areawide with patchy morning fog. out to the delta and north bay valleys, tomorrow same story, patchy fog but thursday night and friday, the rain comes back. plan on gusty winds and very heavy rain on the coastal mountains for the weekend. back to you. oregon's football team is kind of like a hollywood actress. they won't be seen wearing the same outfit twice. now that they're in the national title game, they're unveiling their latest look. they will wear these uniforms when they play auburn on january 10th. fairly conservative. oregon is the alma mater of

nike's founder and they have become the lab rat for the company when it comes to trying out different uniforms and gear. they have several different looks. new research from ucla says putting motherhood on hold could lead to more stress later in life. researchers looked at employed mothers. 44% of them said they don't have enough time for their youngest child. 73% say they don't spend enough time with their spouse. 74% say there's not enough time for themselves. the research does not suggest an ideal age for parenthood, but i say don't put it off. >> it's a busy time no matter when you do it. >> add to the masses. i love scaring him. 6:40 right now. a man loses everything he owns, including his home. we'll show you the unique way he got away from a devastating fire. also a look outside at the golden gate bridge. not as wet as yesterday morning, but rob keeps telling us more rain is on we'll check the forecas 'll wecheck t forecchast and the commute look in just a few minutes. join the jaguar platinum celebration !

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good morning, everybody. welcome back. the time now 6:43. a live look outside. this is the oakland skyline as we take a few peaks at some of the expected highs today. pretty consistent. 56, 57, somewhere in there. now a look down south. the hp pavilion in san jose. we're looking at more rain coming through too. we'll check in with rob and find out when that's expected to happen. a 76-year-old man said he lost everything in a boat fire. ft. myers police say the fire started when a sailboat and motor boat collided. the man lived on the sailboat. he used a kayak to get away from the fire and onto shore.

fire investigators are looking into the incident and what sparked that fire. the deal to prevent higher taxes at the first of the year appears to be headed for a final vote in the senate today, as president obama now tries to sell it to big business. tracie potts is live in washington, d.c., to tell us what we can expect later on today. >> reporter: hi there, brent. actually in just a few hours we will start to see those series -- that series of votes in the senate. they'll be voting on some amendments which are not expected to pass and then finally sometime shortly after lunch, that final vote in the senate on this package that president obama brokered with republicans on whether or not your taxes are going to go up january 1st. that package includes tax breaks for everyone, including the wealthy, and unemployment checks through the next 13 months, through the rest of next year. plus a payroll tax cut. it appears that democrats and republicans in the senate have come together and do have the votes to get this passed. but in the house, it is a

different story. democrats are still pushing back at that estate tax. 35% that they say should be 20% higher without this deal. they say they won't fight passage of the bill, but they will fight for a separate vote, which could delay things into next week. now, also today president obama is meeting with 20 top business leaders. these are big businesses, ge, american express, dow chemical, several others. he wants to talk to them about taking advantage of some of these business tax credits to invest in their business so that they can start hiring again. this is a meeting about unemployment and the nation's high unemployment rate. we've already started to see some of those ceos arriving at blair house across the street from the white house. as we also await the senate vot today. live from capitol hill, i'm tracie potts, "today in the bay." >> one of those things we'll be watching today. as well as the skies to see when that rain is going to come in. some fog out there too, rob. >> yeah, we're seeing some

patchy fog around the bay this morning. cool temperatures as well. we're seeing some low 40s out towards fairfield this morning and some patchy, dense fog into the north bay valleys and close to concord this morning. now, in terms of the rain, that's moved on. it will follow you if you're heading down the central coast into southern california today. scattered showers down into l.a. and san diego. for us between now and thursday, we'll catch a break before the next round of rain comes friday and the weekend. patchy fog for your morning drive. right around lunchtime we'll see partly cloudy skies. the evening commute looks dry, just kind of cooling down again. we'll see highs in the mid-50s today. should stay dry tomorrow. then friday the rain comes back and plan on heavy rain at times and gusty winds too. so it's going to be a one-two punch for your weekend. wind and rainy weather with rainfall totals in the several inches category in the coastal mountains boy monday morning. now checking your morning commute, the bay bridge toll plaza, the traffic is stacked up as the metering lights have been turned on. around the san mateo bridge, things not looking so bad.

you can see the commute is starting to pick up westbound, but you can see across the bridge so patchy fog not a problem there. patchy fog has been a problem around the sunol grade. you can see the commute actually moving pretty well southbound as you head out of pleasanton and approach fremont and over the top of the hill. a quick check of the maps, highway 4 seeing typical slowing as you pass pittsburg. near grant line road there's an accident in the center divide. that's the reason for the red on the map. slowing westbound as well. there you see the travel time around the altamont pass down to 36 miles per hour. so significant slowdown there. also slowing on the guadalupe parkway as you head up towards downtown san jose from highway 85. another item to watch here, southbound one and two lanes, highway 101 now passing the capital expressway, you can see that southbound, the one and two lanes blocked due to an accident within the last half hour. we'll continue to check these changes for your morning commute throughout the morning. back to you. >> thanks for pulling double duty. coastal living magazine just

released the ten best waterfront getaways in the world. two of them, just a long drive away. one is the montage. the magazine says its ocean-front views, feather-top beds and 400 thread count linens make it worth $495 a night. a resort and spa in carlsbad also makes the list. its rooms start at $379 rooms a night but you can get $100 off if you mention coastal living when you book. listen to this one, a mailman said he was just trying to cheer a woman up but she called the cops when he delivered her mail naked. according to the police report he walked into the law office where the woman works in nothing but his birthday suit. he told officers he wanted to make her laugh. instead, he made her call 911. the mailman got a ticket for lewd behavior and is on unpaid leave until he gets this sorted out. >> how did he not know that was going to end that way? the time now is 6:48.

amtrak is lifting its pan on guns. that ban went into effect after the september 11th attacks, but as of this morning, passengers can check unloaded guns. marla tellez is live at the amtrak station in oakland where passengers do have some mixed reaction this morning on that move. marla? >> reporter: good morning to you, brent. yeah, some say not a good idea, others don't seem to mind that from now on passengers can check weapons when boarding amtrak. now, the key word, though, is check. they have to check the weapon so it's not actually on them but in a baggage car. in fact it must be unloaded and stored in a locked container within a baggage car. also a passenger must give amtrak at least 24 hours' advance notice. the new rules pertain to handguns, starter pistols, rifles or shot guns. a passenger can also checkup to 11 pounds of ammunition. the gun prohibition has been in effect since 9/11, so almost ten

years now. as i mentioned, we found people on both sides of the issue this morning. >> aren't we fighting terrorists and all that kind of stuff? so why should somebody bring a weapon on the train? as a matter of fact, the train is more lenient than the plane, right? no, don't mess with the train. >> reporter: this wouldn't stop you from riding a train? >> no, not at all. >> reporter: supporters of the ban say it brings train travel up to speed with air travel rules that already allow passengers to check weapons. gun control advocates say it only makes trains less secure and safe. now, amtrak says to prepare for today, it has spent about $2 million training staff and installing secure storage units to accommodate those guns. reporting live in oakland this morning, marla tellez, "today in the bay." >> thanks for the update, marla. now, business and technology with scott mcgrew. >> good morning, everyone. dow industrials up about 9

points this morning which is enough to lift the dow to another two-year high. as far as bay area stocks, nothing much on the move. we are continuing to wait on the senate and that decision on extending the bush-era tax cuts. meanwhile, another crown for mark zuckerberg, the ceo of facebook. he has been named "time's" person of the year. if you tune into the "today" show coming up at 7:40 this morning, you can watch the official unveiling. now, laura, he is not at 26 years old the youngest person of the year. queen elizabeth in 1952 was also awarded person of the year. she was also 26. and then the very first person of the year, man of the year they called it back then, charles lindbergh, was 25. >> and for you, scott, there's always next year. >> there's always next year. i was this close. >> thanks. 6:51 right now. schools all over the bay area

are dealing with financial problems, but in the east bay, one district has gone from bad to worse. christie smith is live in concord this morning where the district is looking to close some campuses. good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you, laura. yeah, a committee has been looking into this for a couple of months and have come up with several scenarios. perhaps the most drastic closing as many as seven schools in the mt. diablo school district. but the top recommendations for closure include glenbrook middle school, silverwood elementary and wren avenue elementary here in concord. this could save $1.5 million a year. they looked at the condition of the school, how much it costs to run and academic performance but high achievement may not be enough to save a pick school. a final vote on all of this is expected in january. reporting live in concord, christie smith, "today in the bay." >> thank you very much.

now i think we want to check in with rob for a look at the forecast. you know, i ran into some fog this morning. >> yeah, let's take a look at the maps. we'll start off in the north bay where we've seen some fog this morning. nothing showing up on the radar scan. we'll move down to san francisco where i did find just now on the west side of the bay bridge a little light rain there, maybe some drizzle. that's probably fog actually that has set up quite well. you'll see that in the traffic report coming up in a moment. let's show you what's left of the rain heading south into central and southern california. scattered showers there, but in terms of our weather, here you foe. we're calling it the calm before the storms, plural. today one of the drier days over the next ten. cool at times with patchy morning fog. cool temperatures, highs mid-50s today and tomorrow. as we get into friday, we'll see the first in a series of systems going on for a ride on the subtropical jetstream. the subtropical pineapple express, we'll see a lot of

moisture being pulled up into northern california. some of it heavy at times. especially saturday, where the winds will pick up and subbed into monday. some of the coastal mountains could pick up 6 inches or up to 10 inches of rain between now and monday. most of this coming down starting friday afternoon and into and through the weekend. let's show you what's going on with the futurecast and you'll notice the rain holding off until thursday, so good news to get last-second outdoor plans taken care of. as we go through the day friday, we do have pretty heavy rain coming in for the coast, but i think the more substantial rain will hold off until we get through the weekend. temperatures today, mid to upper 50s. a dry day today and tomorrow where patchy fog is the only concern. as we look at the seven-day forecast, too much rain and too little time relatively speaking will be the problem for the coastal mountains. north bay hill tops will report rain by the inch per hour at times i think as we get into monday and tuesday. that's when the heaviest rain of this pattern should start to arrive. quickly checking what's online at nbcbayarea.com, i just

uploaded this for you this morning. this is a river outlook for northern california and the bay area. as all this rain starts to come on in, you may be curious to know what it means for our local rivers and rivers out toward the sierra, so search heavy rain outlook on nbcbayarea.com to find that special weather summary for you this morning. checking your morning commute, that is the upper deck of the -- well, it's out there, you just can't see it. the radar did show you some light rain and i think that's the drizzle and heavy fog we're seeing around the bay bridge. another stop for you as we move a little further to the south. here's another very interesting view, ground level view looking out to the bay bridge. you can see the fog right around the building tops of downtown san francisco this morning. so factor that into your commute plans as you head into the city. ooerz another view from the golden gate bridge heading southbound. fog-free there. one more stop will take you around the bay showing you, well, we've got sunol, some slowing there, likely patchy fog southbound as you get out of pleasanton. travel times around the altamont

pass slowing down a little bit. same story from highway 85 getting up into downtown san jose. these are typical commute times we're seeing. one thing that is a typical, southbound highway 101 passing the capital expressway, you can see one and two lanes, there's some blocking there that is causing some slowing. you're starting to see that on highway 101. south bay and peninsula commute times actually somewhat on schedule. some slowing 280 getting out of san mateo this morning. before we go, one last thing i wanted to show you just on facebook. we were talking about mark zuckerberg won "time" magazine person of the year. there's an intern at facebook that did this. take a look if you want to there. this is so cool. this is a map of all of the friendships on facebook. at least ten million of them. it was just an intern who did this. you can see, i mean it's a little like looking at the earth at night in the sense that you've got the east coast well populated there and then the west coast, but nothing much in the middle, say in wyoming. and then you can make out australia, particularly on one

coast and southeast asia. look at brazil, though. with absolute huge economic power. most important country in south america economically. almost nobody there. >> they're not facebooking. >> and they're using googles or coot. nobody has heard of it here, it's mhuge in brazil. so you win the prize as to why brazil is so dark on that map. >> thank you very much, scott. thanks for joining us this morning. the "today" show is coming up next. >> your local news update for you in half an hour. have a great day. we'll see you back here in a bit. it's really delicious, mom.

it's not too well done? nope. but it is a job well done. what are you reading, sweetie? her diary. when you're done, i'd love some feedback. sure. your mom and i read that thing cover-to-cover. loved it. thanks. would you mind if i cut the lawn this weekend? only if you let me talk to your mother on the phone for hours on end. done.